German · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "schlecht" in German?

Q: How do you pronounce schlecht in German?

schlecht is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ʃlɛçt/. It means “bad.” SHLEKHT. sch is sh, the e is short, and the ch here is the soft ich-laut, not the throaty one.

SHLEKHT. sch is sh, the e is short, and the ch here is the soft ich-laut, not the throaty one.

schlecht /ʃlɛçt/

A single syllable carrying four consonant sounds around one short vowel, which makes it feel dense and abrupt. Adjective endings lengthen the word without shifting anything — schlechtes Wetter keeps the beat on the same short e, with the ending trailing off unstressed behind the t.

Listen: schlecht

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Sound it out

schl sh running straight into a bright l, a cluster English cannot begin a word with.

e The clipped vowel of pen, closed off quickly by whatever follows.

ch The soft ich-laut, chosen by the front vowel e in front of it. Tongue at the hard palate, lips spread, air hissing through without voice.

t Released cleanly straight after the friction.

Hear it in a sentence

Das Wetter ist heute schlecht.

The weather is bad today.

Listen: Das Wetter ist heute schlecht.

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Das Wetter ist heute schlecht keeps the adjective bare after ist, so you hear the full consonant cluster with nothing softening it. Wetter starts with a v and ends in the softened -er, giving 'VET-uh', and heute carries the oy diphthong before its schwa.

Where English speakers slip

Having practised machen and Buch, learners bring the throaty scrape here, producing something like 'shlekht' from deep in the throat. The vowel in front is a front e, so the soft variant wins — it should hiss at the roof of the mouth. The schl cluster is the other work: 'slecht' with a plain s is the simplification English speakers default to.